We are smack in the middle of December, AKA, one of the best times of the year! I hope all is well with you as the holidays loom. Let’s get started with tonight’s Thursday Rundown…

Christmas Light Glasses – Beau’s daycare gave him a really cute and thoughtful Christmas gift package. It came with a stuffed reindeer, a couple books, and a pair of HoloSpex glasses. When worn, these glasses add a charming snowflake pattern around Christmas lights. Putting them on and looking at our Christmas tree is a trip! Thank you to St. Paschal EduCare for “brightening” Beau’s holiday just a little bit more.

That’s Beau holding his glasses to his face while looking at the Christmas tree. The lights on the tree take on a snowflake shape thanks to the spectacles.

Newest Ornament – Many years ago, I wrote about my favorite ornaments on our tree. Since then, we have added new meaningful ornaments on an annual basis. Last night, Sid brought home the latest ornament that will no doubt carry special sentiment for years to come. She had this Christmas light-themed decoration made at a kiosk in River Park Square during her lunch break. As you can see, it already has a home on our tree.

This is the new ornament that we have added to our tree.

RIP Mike Leach – News broke yesterday that Coach Mike Leach passed away on Monday night from heart complications. What a major loss. Although I can’t say that Leach and I worked for the same employer at the same time (he left WSU a couple months before I started), I followed his career closely, especially when he was a Coug. Whenever Coach Leach would say something humorous or make a bold coaching move, my brother and I would text each other with a four-word phrase of endearment: Leach is gonna Leach. We sent this text countless times, including just a few days before his condition turned critical. My brother and I shared a Leach memory back in 2006 when we attended the Insight Bowl in Tempe. Leach’s Texas Tech team overcame a 38-7 deficit with 7:47 remaining in the third quarter to defeat Minnesota. Personal reflections aside, there is no denying that Mike Leach was a brilliant mind both on the football field and in the arena of life. May eternal rest be grant unto Mike Leach and perpetual light shine upon him.

Leach is gonna Leach. We will miss him (photo courtesy of Mississippi State University).

Our Lady of Guadalupe – Earlier this week on Dec. 12, we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It commemorates the same day back in 1531 when our Blessed Mother appeared to Juan Diego over the course of five different times. The event was responsible for NINE MILLION Mexican people converting to Catholicism. There are so many miraculous components of this Marian visitation but perhaps nothing is greater than the image of the Blessed Virgin that was left on the cloak of Juan Diego. This cloak is still preserved in pristine condition today. In 1929, it was discovered that Mary’s eyes reflected figures of many people, including Juan Diego and the bishop he consulted after his encounters with our Blessed Mother. You can read more about this holy self-portrait here.

This was the miraculous image that appeared on Juan Diego’s cloak after the flowers he presented to the bishop fell to the ground.

Photo Frame Tradition – On this date two years ago, I wrote about a very unique tradition that we would do on Christmas Eve every year with my dad’s family. Essentially, we would decorate Christmas photo frames and write Reser Family Christmas on it earlier in December. Once Christmas Eve came around, we would then draw numbers and the person with the lowest number would pick a frame. Then the person with the next lowest number would pick and then on. Once we all had a frame, we would each get our picture taken with a Polaroid camera. We would then insert the Polaroid print inside our frame. I describe this tradition in much more detail in the original post but to this day we still have many of those frames hanging around my parents’ house.

One of our “Reser” frames from 1997.

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That will wrap up tonight’s Thursday Rundown. Can you believe that a week from today it will be Christmas Eve Eve Eve? Thanks for reading! Don’t Blink.